Immune system disorder

Immune system disorder, any of various failures in the body’s defense mechanisms against infectious organisms. Disorders of immunity include immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS, that arise because of a diminution of some aspect of the immune response. Other types of immune disorders, such as allergies and autoimmune disorders, are caused when the body develops an inappropriate response to a substance—either to a normally harmless foreign substance found in the environment, in the case of allergies, or to a component of the body, in the case of autoimmune diseases. Lymphocytes (white blood cells of the immune system) can become cancerous and give rise to tumours called leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas.

This article discusses various immune deficiencies, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and lymphocyte cancers. For additional information on leukemias, lymphomas, and myelomas, see the article cancer. A discussion of how the immune system works to prevent disease is found in the article immune system.

Immune deficiencies

Immune deficiency disorders result from defects that occur in immune mechanisms. The defects arise in the components of the immune system, such as the white blood cells involved in immune responses (T and B lymphocytes and scavenger cells) and the complement proteins, for a number of reasons. Some deficiencies are hereditary and result from genetic mutations that are passed from parent to child. Others are caused by developmental defects that occur in the womb. In some cases immune deficiencies result from damage inflicted by infectious agents. In others drugs used to treat certain conditions, or even the diseases themselves, can depress the immune system. Poor nutrition also can undermine the immune system. Limited contact with natural environmental factors, particularly with microorganisms found in biodiverse settings, also has been associated with increased risk of allergies, autoimmune disorders, and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Hereditary and congenital deficiencies

Immune deficiencies resulting from hereditary and congenital defects are rare, but they can affect all major aspects of the immune system. Luckily many of those conditions can be treated. In the rare hereditary disorder called X-linked infantile agammaglobulinemia, which affects only males, B lymphocytes are unable to secrete all classes of immunoglobulins. (An immunoglobulin is a type of protein, also called an antibody, that is produced by B cells in response to the presence of a foreign substance called an antigen.) The disease can be treated by periodic injections of large amounts of immunoglobulin G (IgG). The congenital, but not hereditary, T-cell deficiency disease called DiGeorge syndrome arises from a developmental defect occurring in the fetus that results in the defective development of the thymus. Consequently the infant has either no mature T cells or very few. In the most severe cases—i.e., when no thymus has developed—treatment of DiGeorge syndrome consists of transplantation of a fetal thymus into the infant. The group of disorders called severe combined immunodeficiency diseases result from a failure of precursor cells to differentiate into T or B cells. Bone marrow transplantation can successfully treat some of those diseases. The immune disorder called chronic granulomatous disease results from an inherited defect that prevents phagocytic cells from producing enzymes needed to break down ingested pathogens. Treatments include administration of a wide spectrum of antibiotics.

Deficiencies caused by infection

Damage to lymphocytes that is inflicted by viruses is common but usually transient. During infectious mononucleosis, for example, the Epstein-Barr virus infects B cells, causing them to express viral antigens. T cells that react against these antigens then attack the B cells, and a temporary deficiency in the production of new antibodies lasts until the overt viral infection has been overcome. Because antibodies already present in the blood are slowly broken down, failure to make new ones is important only if the infection persists for a long time, as it does occasionally. A much more serious viral infection is that caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is responsible for the fatal immune deficiency disease AIDS. HIV selectively infects helper T cells and prevents them from producing cytokines and from functioning in cell-mediated immunity. Persons with AIDS may be unable to overcome infections by a variety of microbes that are easily disposed of by persons uninfected with HIV. Severe infections by certain parasites, such as trypanosomes, also cause immune deficiency, as do some forms of cancer, but it is uncertain how that comes about. For example, Hodgkin disease, which attacks the lymphatic system, makes the patient more susceptible to infection.

In countries with advanced medical services, immune deficiency often results from the use of powerful drugs to treat cancers. The drugs work by inhibiting the multiplication of rapidly dividing cells. Although the drugs act selectively on cancer cells, they also can interfere with the generation and multiplication of cells involved in immune responses. Prolonged or intensive treatment with such drugs impairs immune responses to some degree. Although the immune impairment is reversible, the physician must seek a balance between intentional damage to the cancer cells and unintentional damage to the immune system.

Medically induced suppression of the immune system also occurs when powerful drugs, which are designed to interfere with the development of T and B cells, are used to prevent the rejection of organ or bone marrow transplants or to damp down serious autoimmune responses. Although use of such drugs has greatly improved the success of transplants, it also leaves patients highly susceptible to microbial infections. Fortunately, most of those infections can be treated with antibiotics, but the immunosuppressive drugs have to be used with great care and for as short a period as possible.